1901551 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered the protection visa application of an Egyptian national. The applicant claimed he would face harm in Egypt due to his religion as a Coptic Christian, alleging he had been involved in negotiating with Muslim extremists and rescuing kidnapped Christian girls. The AAT was required to assess whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) or the complementary protection criterion under section 36(2)(aa).

The Tribunal's reasoning focused on the applicant's claims of persecution based on his religion and his specific activities. It considered extensive documentary evidence, including statutory declarations, church references, human rights reports, news articles detailing persecution of Christians in Egypt, and country information assessments from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Tribunal also had regard to Ministerial Direction No. 84, which mandates consideration of the 'Refugee Law Guidelines' and 'Complementary Protection Guidelines'.

The Tribunal acknowledged the difficulties faced by Christians in Egypt regarding church construction and renovation, noting that while a law was passed in 2016 to facilitate this, its implementation had been problematic in some areas. However, the Tribunal found that the applicant's specific claims of negotiating with extremists and rescuing kidnapped girls were not substantiated by the evidence presented. While acknowledging reports of violence against Christians and churches, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not demonstrated a real risk of significant harm as a necessary and foreseeable consequence of his removal to Egypt, nor had he established a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason. The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.